There is a digital edition of the Adams Papers supported by the Massachusetts Historical Society: Adams Papers Digital Edition. It is searchable and covers the diaries, papers and general and family correspondence of the Adams Family. Available here.

Archives of Maryland: Journal and Correspondence of the Council of the Council of Safety January 1-March 20, 1777; Journal and Correspondence of the State Council March 20, 1777-March 28, 1778 Baltimore: Maryland Historical Society, 1897. Volume 16. All volumes online.

Archives of Maryland: Journal and Correspondence of the Council of Maryland April 1, 1778-October 26, 1779 Baltimore: Maryland Historical Society, 1901. Volume 21. All volumes online.

Archives of Maryland: Journal and Correspondence of the Council of Maryland, 1779-1780 Baltimore: Maryland Historical Society, 1924. Volume 43. All volumes online.

Archives of Maryland: Journal and Correspondence of the State Council November 19, 1781 - November 11, 1784 Baltimore: Maryland Historical Society, 1931. Volume 48. All volumes online.

Contains contemporary records from provincial assemblies, committees of safety, the Continental Congress, letters, diaries journals, ships' logs, account books, and newspapers from American sources, as well as similar materials from British, French, Spanish, and other foreign archives, libraries, and museums. Illustrated with works of art, drawings, sketches, maps, and artifacts of the time. Indexed. Presented in chronological/geographic order. The cornerstone for beginning the study of American naval operations. All published volumes are online, hosted by the Naval History and Heritage Command.

Chadwick, French Ensor (ed.)

The Graves Papers and Other Documents Relating to the Naval Operations of the Yorktown Campaign July to October 1781. New York: Naval History Society, 1916. Online.

Dow, George FrancisAVCR

American Vessels Captured By the British During the Revolution and War of 1812: The Records of the Vice-Admiralty Court at Halifax, Nova Scotia. Salem, Mass.: The Essex Institute, 1911. 166pp. Online

Abstracts of cases in the Vice-Admiralty Court at Halifax. This contains many depositions used in the court cases. It was originally published as a series of articles in The Essex Institute Historical Collections, vol XLV, The Essex Institute, Salem, 1909 as “Records of the Vice Admiralty Court at Nova Scotia.” This version is online at Dow online.

Published by the State of Massachusetts. Contains notices of service by soldiers and sailors extracted from contemporary records.

Neeser, Robert Wilden (ed.)

Letters and Papers Relating to the Cruises of Gustavus Conyngham, A Captain of the Continental Navy 1777-1779, New York: Naval History Society, 1915.Online

New Jersey.Stryker, William S., and Francis B. Lee, William Nelson (eds.)

Archives of the State of New Jersey: Documents Relating to the Revolutionary History of New Jersey, Second Series, Volume I-V. Trenton: John L. Murphy Publishing Co., 1901-1917. Volume I is online. Volume II is online. Volume III is online. Volume IV is online. Volume V is online.

Palmer, William P. (ed.)

Calendar of Virginia State Papers and Other Manuscripts, 1652-1781, Richmond: Superintendent of Public Printing, 1875. Vol. I.Online.Calendar of Virginia State Papers and Other Manuscripts, from April 1, 1781 to December 31, 1781 Richmond: James R. Goode, 1881. Volume II. Online. Calendar of Virginia State Papers and Other Manuscripts, from January 1, 1782 to December 31, 1784 Richmond: James R. Goode, 1883. Volume III is online.

Paullin, Charles Oscar (ed.)

Out-Letters of the Continental Marine Committee and Board of Admiralty August 1776-September 1780. New York: Naval History Society, 1914. 2vols. Volume I is online. Volume II is online.

Pennsylvania

Minutes of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania, from Its Organization to the Termination of the Revolution, Harrisburg: Theo. Fenn & Co., 1853, vol XIII. Part of the Pennsylvania Archives. Online.

Salley, A. S. (ed.)

Journal of the Commissioners of the Navy of South Carolina: October 9, 1776-March 1, 1779; and Journal of the Commissioners of the Navy of South Carolina: July 22, 1779-March 23, 1780. Columbia: Historical Commission of South Carolina, 1912. Volume I is online. Volume II is online.

South Carolina Historical Society

Divers Accounts of the Battle of Sullivan's Island In His Majesty's Province of South Carolina the 28th June 1776, Charleston: South Carolina Historical Society, 1976.

Tyson, George F., Jr.

Powder, Profits & Privateers: A Documentary History of the Virgin Islands During the Era of the American Revolution Virgin Islands Bureau of Libraries, Museums & Archaeological Services, Department of Conservation & Cultural Affairs. 1977. 114pp.

Contains document extracts relating to the Virgin Islands during the American Revolution.

II. Books

Adams, William Frederick (comp.)

Commodore Joshua Barney: many interesting facts connected with the life of Commodore Joshua Barney, hero of the United States Navy 1776-1812, also a compilation of genealogical material relating to Commodore Barney's ancestors and descendants, with valuable records for those in search of Barney family connections. Springfield, Massachusetts: 1912. 2 vols. Volume I is online. Volume II is online.

Adler, Mortimer J. (ed.)

The Revolutionary Years: Britannica's Book of the American Revolution, New York: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc., 1976.

Albert, Marvin H.

Broadsides & Boarders, New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc., 1957.

Alberts, Robert C.

The Golden Voyage: The Life and Times of William Bingham 1752-1804, Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1969.

The Colonial Background of the American Revolution, New Haven: Yale University Press, 1961. Reprint of 1931 edition.

[Anonymous]]

A Short account of the naval actions of the last war: in order to prove that the French Nation never gave such slender proofs of maritime greatness as during that period. With observations on the discipline, and hints for the improvement of the British Navy. London: J. Murray, 1788. Online.

Augur, Helen

The Secret War of Independence, New York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1955.

Babson, John J.

History of the Town of Gloucester, Cape Ann, Including the Town of Rockport, Gloucester: Proctor Brothers, 1860. Online.

Baker, Virginia

The History of Warren, Rhode Island, In the War of the Revolution, 1776-1783, Warren: Virginia Baker, 1901. Online.

Banes, John S. (ed.)

The Logs of the Serapis-Alliance-Ariel under the Command of John Paul Jones 1779-1780. New York: Naval History Society, 1911. Online.

Barney, Mary (ed.)

A Biographical Memoir of the late Commodore Joshua Barney: from Autographical Notes and Journals in Possession of his Family, and other Authentic Sources. Boston: Gray and Bowen, 1832. Online.

Balch, Thomas. Edwin Swift Balch and Elise Willing Balch (trans.)

The French in America during the War of Independence of the United States 1777-1783. Philadelphia: Porter and Coates, 1891-1895. 2 vols. Volume I is online. Volume II is online.

Batchelder, Samuel Francis

The Life and Surprising Adventures of John Nutting Cambridge Loyalist, and His Strange Connection with the Penobscot Expedition of 1779, Cambridge: Cambridge Historical Society, 1912. Online.

Beach, Edward L.

The United States Navy: A 200-Year History, Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1986.

Beatson, Robert

Naval and Military Memoirs of Great Britain, from 1727 to 1783, London: J. Strachan and P. Hill, 1790. 6 vols. Volume IV is online. Volume V is online. Volume VI is online.

Bellico, Russell P.

Sails and Steam in the Mountains: A Maritime and Military History of Lake George and Lake Champlain, Fleishmanns, New York: Purple Mountain Press, 1993.

Bemis, Samuel Flagg

The Diplomacy of the American Revolution: The Foundations of American Diplomacy 1775-1823, New York: D. Appleton-Century Company, Inc., 1935

The American Revolution In Georgia 1763-1789, Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1958.

Cooney, David M.

A Chronology of the U.S. Navy: 1775-1965, New York: Franklin Watts, Inc., 1965.

Crawford, Michael J.

The Autobiography of a Yankee Mariner, Washington: Brassey's, Inc., 2002.

Crerar, J. W.

The Story of the “Black Prince”: The original of the light frigate ‘Alfred’ the first commissioned warship of The Continental Navy, Vineland, New Jersey: Vineland Historical Magazine, 1939.

Cross, Charles B., Jr.

A Navy for Virginia: A Colony's Fleet in the Revolution, Yorktown: The Virginia Independence Bicentennial Commission, 1981.

Cuneo, John R.

The Battles of Saratoga: The Turning of the Tide, New York, The MacMillen Company, 1967.

Currier, John J.

History of Newburyport, Mass. 1764-1905, Newburyport: 1906. 2 vols. Volume I is online.

Dandridge, Danske

American Prisoners of the Revolution. Charlottesville, Virginia: The Michie Co., 1911. Online here and many other places.

Danenberg, Elsie N.

Naval History of Fairfield County Men in the Revolution: A Tale Untold. Fairfield, Connecticut: Fairfield Historical Society, 1977.

Dann, John C.

The Revolution Remembered: Eyewitness Accounts of the War for Independence, Chicago: University of Chicago Press: 1999.

Daughan, George C.

If By Sea: The Forging of the American Navy - from the Revolution to the War of 1812, New York: Basic Books, 2008.

Davis, Robert P.

Where a Man Can Go: Major General William Phillips, British Royal Artillery, 1731-1781, Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group, 1999.

De Koven, Anna

The Life and Letters of John Paul Jones. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1913. 2 vols. Volume I is online. Volume II is online

Diamant, Lincoln

Chaining the Hudson: The Fight for the River in the American Revolution, New York: Carol Publishing Group, 1989.

Diamant, Lincoln

Dive! The Story of David Bushnell and His Remarkable 1776 Submarine (and Torpedo). Fleischmanns, New York: Purple Mountain Press, 2003.

Dickerson, Oliver M.

The Navigation Acts and the American Revolution, New York: A, S. Barnes & C., 1951.

Dull, Jonathan R.

The French Navy and American Independence: A Study of Arms and Diplomacy 1774-1787, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1975.

This is one of the finest books on the subject ever written. Professor Dull reports on the inner workings of the French high command, the fleet movements, and much more. Read this and Piers Mackesy's The War for America 1775-1783 together to contrast what each high command knew, or thought they knew, at the same time.

Dull, Jonathan R.

A Diplomatic History of the American Revolution. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1985.

Dupuy, Trevor Nevitt, and Hayes, Grace Person

The Military History of Revolutionary War Naval Battles, New York: Franklin Watts, 1970.

Dupuy, R. Ernest, and Dupuy, Trevor N.

An Outline History of the American Revolution, New York: Harper and Row, 1975.

Eastman, Ralph M.

Some Famous Privateers of New England, Boston: State Street Trust Company, 1928. Online.

Eller, Ernest M.

Naval Weapons of the American Revolution 1775-1783, Washington: American Defense Preparedness Association, 1976.

Emmons, George F.

Statistical History of the Navy of the United States, Washington: Gideon & Co., 1853. Online

Fanning, NathanielJohn S. Barnes (ed.)

Fanning's Narrative being the Memoirs of Nathaniel Fanning an Officer of the Revolutionary Navy 1778-1783. New York: Naval History Society, 1912.Online.

George Washington's Schooners: The First American Navy. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1995.

Herbert, Charles

A Relic of the Revolution, Containing a Full and Particular Accunt of the Sufferings and Privations of All the American Prisoners Captured On the High Seas and Carried into Plymouth England During the Revolution of 1776; With the Names of the Vessels taken the Names and Residence of the several Crews and time of their Commitment the Names of such as died in Prison and such as made their Escape or entered on board English Men of War until the exchange of prisoners March 15 1779 . . .,. Boston: Charles H. Peirce, 1847. Online.

Hepper, David

British Warship Losses in the Age of Sail, 1650-1859. Jean Boudriot Publications, 1994

Hough, Benjamin Franklin (ed.)

The Siege of Savannah, by the Combined American and French Forces, under the command of Gen. Lincoln, and the Comte d'Estaing, in the Autumn of 1779.. Albany: J. Munsell, 1866. Online.

Howard, James L.

Seth Harding Mariner: A Naval Picture of the Revolution. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1930.

Howe, Octavius Thorndike

Beverly Privateers in the American Revolution. Cambridge: John Wilson and Son (The University Press), 1922. Online.

Hurd, Duane Hamilton

History of Plymouth County, Massachusetts With Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men, Philadelphia: J.W. Lewis and Co. 1884. Online.

Hurst, Ronald

The Golden Rock: An Episode of the American War of Independence, Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1996.

Jackson, John W.

The Pennsylvania Navy, 1775-1781: The Defense of the Delaware, New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 1974.

James, James Alton

Oliver Pollock: The Life and Times of an Unknown Patriot, New York: D. Appleton-Century Company, 1937.

James, W. M.

The British Navy In Adversity: A Study of the War of American Independence, Cranbury, New Jersey: The Scholar's Bookshelf, 2005 reprint of 1926 edition.

Johnson, Cecil

British West Florida 1763-1783, New Haven: Yale University Press, 1943.

Jones, John Paul Janette Taylor and Robert Charles Sands (eds.)

Life and Battles of John Paul Jones: The Greatest Naval Hero of Modern Times. Boston: N. B. Parsons, 1855. Online.

Ships of the American Revolutionary Navy, Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2009.

Larrabee, Harold A.

Decision at the Chesapeake, New York: Bramhall House, 1964.

Leamon, James S.

Revolution Downeast: The War for American Independence in Maine, Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1993.

Leigh, Benjamin Watkins (ed.) and Michie, Thomas Johnson (annot.)

Virginia Reports, Jefferson-33 Grattan, 1730-1880: Reports of Cases Argued and Determined In the Court of Appeals and In the General Court of Virginia, Charlottesville: The Minchie Company, 1902. Online.

Lewis, James A.

Neptune's Militia: The Frigate South Carolina during the American Revolution. Kent, Ohio: The Kent State University Press, 1999.

Lipscomb, Terry W.

The Carolina lowcountry April 1775-June 1776. Columbia: South Carolina Department of Archives and History, 1991.

Loménie, Louis Léonard deHenry S. Edwards (trans.)

Beaumarchais and His Times; Sketches of French Society in the Eighteenth Century from Unpublished Documents. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1857. Online.

The Pictorial Field Book of the Revolution; or, Illustrations, by Pen and Pencil, of the History, Biography, Scenery, Relics, and Traditions of the War of Independence. New York, Harper & Brothers, 1859. 2 vols. Volume I is online. Volume II is online.

Lowell, Edward J.

The Hessians and the Other German Auxiliaries of Great Britain in the Revolutionary War. Williamstown, Massachusetts: Corner House Publishers, 1975. Reprint of 1884 edition. Online.

McBurney, Christian M.

The Rhode Island Campaign: The First French and American Operation in the Revolutionary War. Yardley, Pennsylvania: Westholme Publishing, 2011.

McCrady, Edward

The History of South Carolina in the Revolution 1775-1780. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1901. Online.

McCrady, Edward

The History of South Carolina in the Revolution 1780-1783. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1902. Online.

John Barry: An American Hero in the Age of Sail. Yardley, Pennsylvania: Westholme Publishing, 2010.

Mackesy, Piers

The War for America 1775-1783. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1965.

Maclay, Edgar Stanton

A History of the United States Navy from 1775 to 1893. New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1894. 2 vols. Volume I is online.

Maclay, Edgar Stanton

A History of American Privateers. New York: Burt Franklin, 1968. Reprint of the 1899 edition. Online.

This is a history of all American Privateers, written in 1899. Most of the book focuses on the War of 1812, and one must hope that that part is more accurate than the part on the American Revolution's privateers.

The War for Independence: A Military History, Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1958.

Peckham, Howard H.

The Toll of Independence: Engagements & Battle Casualties of the American Revolution, Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1974.

Pemsel, Helmut

A History of War at Sea: An atlas and chronology of conflict at sea from the earliest times to the present, Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1989.

Pennsylvania Court of Admiralty

Judgments in the Admiralty of Pennsylvania: In Four Suits, Brought as for Maritime Hypothecations. Also, the Case of Silas Talbot, Against the Brigs Achilles, Patty, and Hibernia, and of the Owners of the Hibernia Against Their Captain, John Angus : with an Appendix, Containing the Testimony Exhibited in the Admiralty in those Causes, Philadelphia, T. Dobson and T. Lang, 1789. Online.

Perkins, James Breck

France in the American Revolution, New York: Burt Franklin, 1970. Reprint of 1911 edition. Online.

Petrie, Donald A.

The Prize Game: Lawful Looting on the High Seas in the Days of Fighting Sail, Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1999.

A fascinating account of the legalities of prizes, raiders, and admiralty courts, illustrated by examples. Highly recommended.

Pratt, Fletcher

The Navy A History: The Story of a Service in Action, Garden City, New York: Garden City Publishing Co., Inc., 1941

Preston, Anthony; Lyon, David; and Batchelor, John H.

Navies of the American Revolution, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall Inc., 1975.

Prince, ChristopherCrawford, Michael J. (ed.)

The Autobiography of A Yankee Mariner: Christopher Prince and the American Revolution. Washington: Brassey's, Inc.,2002.

Randall, Willard Sterne

Benedict Arnold: Patriot and Traitor, New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc., 1990.

Rankin, Hugh F.

The War of the Revolution in Virginia, Williamsburg: Virginia Independence Bicentennial Commission, 1979.

Rappleye, Charles

Robert Morris: Financier of the American Revolution, New York: Simon & Schuster, 2010.

Remick, Oliver P.

A Record of the Services of the Commissioned Officers and Enlisted Men of Kittery and Eliot, Maine: who served their country on land and sea in the American Revolution, from 1775 to 1783, Boston: A. Mudge & Son, printers, [1901]. Online.

Richardson, Edward W.

Standards and Colors of the American Revolution, Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1982.

Battleground: South Carolina in the Revolution, Charleston: The News & Courier and The Evening Post, 1983.

Robertson, E. Arnot

The Spanish Town Papers: Some Sidelights on the American War of Independence, London: The Cresset Press, 1959.

Rodger, N. A. M.

The Command of the Ocean: A Naval History of Britain, 1649-1815. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2004.

Rogers, Ernetst E.

Connecticut's Naval Office at New London During the War of the American Revolution. new London: The New London County Historical Society, 1933.

Roscoe, Theodore, and Freeman, Fred

Picture History of the U.S. Mavy: From Old Navy to New, 1776 to 1897, New York, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1956.

Rowe, William Hutchinson

The Maritime History of Maine: Three Centuries of Shipbuilding & Seafaring, New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1948.

Sanchez-Saavedra, E. M. (comp.)

A Guide to Virginia Military Organizations in the American Revolution, 1774-1787. Westminster, Maryland: Heritage Books, Inc., 2007.

Saltonstall, William Gurdon

Ports of Piscataqua: Soundings in the maritime history of the Portsmouth, N.H., Customs District from the days of Queen Elizabeth and the planting of Strawberry Banke to the times of Abraham Lincoln and the waning of the American Clipper. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1941.

Schleer, George F., and Rankin, Hugh F.

Rebels and Redcoats. New York: The World Publishing Company, 1957.

Schlesinger, Arthur Meier

The Colonial Merchants and the American Revolution, 1763-1776. New York: Columbia University, 1918. Online.

Schlesinger, Arthur M., Jr.

The Almanac of American History. New York: Bramhall House, 1983.

Sheffield, William Paine

An Address Delivered by William P. Sheffield, before the Rhode Island Historical Society, in Providence, February 7th, A.D. 1882. With Notes. Newport: John P. Sanborne, 1883. Online.

Sheppard, John H.

The Life of Samuel Tucker, Commodore in the American Revolution. Boston: Alfred Mudge and Son, 1868. Online.

Sherburne, John Henry

The Life and Character of John Paul Jones, A Captain in the United States Navy, during the Revolutionary War. New York: Adriance, Sherman & Co., 1851. Online.

Shomette, Donald G.

Pirates on the Chesapeake: Being a True History of Pirates, Picaroons, and Raiders on Chesapeake Bay 1610-1807. Centreville, Maryland: Tidewater Publishers, 1985.

Shy, John

The American Revolution. Northbrook, Illinois: American Publishing Corporation, 1973.

Silverstone, Paul H.

The Sailing Navy, 1775-1854. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2001.

Smith, Charles R.

Marines in the Revolution: A History of the Continental Marines in the American Revolution 1775-1783, Washington: Government Printing Office, 1975.

Smith, Justin H.

Our Struggle for the Fourteenth Colony: Canada and the American Revolution, New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1907. 3 volumes. Volume I is online. Volume II is online.

Smith, Myron J., Jr.

Navies in the American Revolution: A Bibliography, Metuchen, New Jersey: The Dcarecrow Press, 1973.

Our French Allies: Rochambeau and His Army, LaFayette and His Devotion, D'Estaing, DeTernay, Barras, DeGrasse, and Their Fleets in the Great War of the American Revolution, from 1778-1782, Cranbury, New Jersey: The Scholar's Bookshelf, 2005. Reprint of the 1884 edition. Online.

The British Navy and the American Revolution, Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1987.

Toth, Charles W. (ed.)

The American Revolution and the West Indies, Port Washington, New York: Kennicat Press, 1975.

Tracy, Nicholas

Navies, Deterrence, and American Independence: Britain and Seapower in the 1760s and 1770s. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 1988.

Treat, John Harvey

The Treat Family: A Genealogy of Trott, Tratt, and Treat for Fifteen Generations, and Four Hundred and Fifty Years in England and America, Containing More Than Fifteen Hundred Families in America. Salem: Salem Press, 1893. Online.

Pirates & Patriots of the Revolution: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Colonial Seamanship, Saybrook, Connecticut: The Globe Pequot Press, 1984. This ia reprint of the book listed above, with a different title.

Winfield, Rif

British Warships In the Age of Sail 1714-1792, Design, Construction, Careers and Fates, Barnsley, Yorkshire: Seaforth Publishing, 2007

Winslow, Richard E., III

“Wealth and Honour”: Portsmouth During the Golden Age of Privateering, 1775-1815. Portsmouth: The Portsmouth Marine Society, 1988.

Wright, J. Leitch, Jr.

British St. Augustine, St. Augustine, Florida: Historic St. Augustine Preservation Board, 1975.

III. Articles

Clark, William Bell

“James Josiah, Master Mariner,” in The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, vol. 79, No. 4 (October 1955), 452-484. It is online from JSTOR.

Colburn, Jeremiah

“A List of the Americans Committed to Old Mill Prison Since the American War,” in New England Historical and Genealogical Register, vol. XIX, Boston: The New England Historical-Genealogical Society, 1865, 74-75, 136-141, 209-213. Online.